Valdete Idrizi

Valdete Idrizi (born 1973)[1] is the executive director of the CiviKos platform (in 2017).[2] She was the executive director of the NGO Community-Building Mitrovica, which she founded, and which works for peace and builds community in the Mitrovica region in northern Kosovo.[3][4] For six years prior to 2008, Community-Building Mitrovica was the only organization in Mitrovica which encouraged reconciliation and rebuilding of relationships between ethnic Albanians and Serbs.[5] Idrizi herself is an ethnic Albanian from Kosovo in North Mitrovica who lost her home in 1999 when the Serbs invaded. [3][5] [4] In 2008 her home was still occupied by Serbs.[3] Community-Building Mitrovica has managed to arrange the return of some Serbs to their homes in Kosovo, for which Idrizi received death threats from Kosovar Albanian militants.[3]

Valdete Idrizi with Secretary Rice

Idrizi received a 2008 International Women of Courage Award and the 2009 Soroptimist International Peace Award. [5] [6][4]

She was chosen as CiviKos Platform Executive Director in December 2011; CiviKos is an initiative of civil society organizations in Kosovo "aimed at creating an enabling environment for [the] cooperation of [the] formal civil society sector and the Government."[2]

References

1. oralhistorykosovo.org
2. , Civikos, Retrieved 11 February 2017
3. Kosovo's 'Woman of Courage' Bridges Ethnic Divide | WBUR & NPR
4. "Valdete Idrizi | WISE Muslim Women". Archived from the original on 2016-08-21. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
5. International Women of Courage Award Ceremony: 2008
6. Valdete Idrizi wins Award - Community Building Mitrovica